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A front-page article on Thursday about strain on government services in Texas caused by hurricane evacuees misstated the number of evacuee children in Houston public schools and the amount of Federal aid the state has received. The most recent count, in late February, showed 5,475 students, not 30,000. The aid is $222 million, not $22 million.There is a really BIG gap in the actual numbers and the fictitious numbers reported. Then there is this one.
An article yesterday about criticism of the Small Business Administration's response to the 2005 hurricanes misstated the value of loans the agency has provided to victims. It is $842 million, not $336 million.You just know as many readers read the correction as read the story -- don't you! What do you think -- honest mistakes, lousy reporting, or intentional misleading?
"I think it's a challenge for Lieberman to reconnect to the rank-and-file of the party and prove he is an authentic Democrat," said John McNamara, chairman of the New Britain Democratic Town Committee. Bumper stickers spotted in Connecticut read, "Anybody but Joe — I want a real Democrat in '06." Campaign buttons show Bush and Lieberman in an embrace, with the words, "The Kiss: Too Close for Comfort."Technorati Tags: Lieberman, Election 2008
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's president formally designated Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki to form a new government, as the country's parliament met Saturday to launch a political process aimed at healing wounds among ethnic and religious communities and pulling the nation out of insurgency and sectarian strife.Technorati Tags: Iraq
The move ends months of political deadlock among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds which threatened to drag the nation into fullscale civil war. Al-Maliki has 30 days to present his Cabinet to parliament for approval.
Parliament elected President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to a second term and gave the post of parliament speaker to Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab. Al-Mashhadani's two deputies were to be Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, and Aref Tayfour, a Kurd.
"... the Internet has become the modern equivalent of a telephone or a daily newspaper, providing a combination of communication and information that most employees use as frequently in their personal lives as for their work."
Ford, 92, says, "Allowing retired generals to dictate our country's policies and its leadership would be a dangerous precedent that would severely undermine our country's long tradition of civilian control of the military."Technorati Tags: Rumsfeld, President Ford, Rummy
"It would discourage civilian leaders at the department from having frank and candid exchanges with military officers," Ford added. "And, today, at a time of war, such an effort sends exactly the wrong message both to our troops deployed abroad and to our enemies who are watching for any signs of weakness or self-doubt."
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"President Bush is right to keep him in his post. It is the president's decision - and his alone."
WASHINGTON — A CIA officer has been relieved of his duty after being caught leaking classified information to the media.However, I do believe the media is getting a pass, come on a prize for sharing state secrets!
Citing the Privacy Act, the CIA would not provide any details about the officer's identity or assignments. It was not immediately clear if the person would face prosecution. The firing is a highly unusual move, although there has been an ongoing investigation into leaks in the CIA.
Post reporter Dana Priest spearheaded the reporting on the "black site" prisons and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize last week for beat reporting. The Pulitzer board called her reporting on the prisons "persistent" and "painstaking."Culprit identified --
The Associated Press has learned the officer was a CIA veteran nearing retirement, Mary McCarthy. Reached Friday evening at home, her husband would not confirm her firing.UPDATE! Interesting information below!
Washington -- National Security Advisor Samuel R. Berger announced June 16 the appointment of Mary O'Neil McCarthy as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Intelligence Programs.Technorati Tags: CIA, CIA leaks
Men and women are actually from the same planet, but scientists now have the first strong evidence that the emotional wiring of the sexes is fundamentally different.I know this is shocking but it's true -- just read this article. Are they kidding, you mean someone spent time and money on this study? I just wonder if any of MY tax dollars went to this study.
Washington -- Attacks against Iraq's vital infrastructure have decreased by 60 percent over the past three months, the spokesman for Multi-National Force-Iraq said April 13. Army Major General Rick Lynch, who briefed reporters at the Pentagon via teleconference from Baghdad, said the decrease is directly due to the presence of 250,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces operating all across the country, conducting important missions.
A BANGLADESHI woman who shook a baby boy so violently that he suffered brain damage walked free from court yesterday because a judge conceded that she did not know how to behave in the West.(Hat tip Michelle Malkin)
Medical and public health attempts to control obesity should continue, but it is time to add marketplace approaches. The first step is realizing that, nationally, weight gain is not a medical problem, it's a pollution problem.
"Indiana's voter ID law, widely regarded as one of the most restrictive in America, creates unfair obstacles that will prevent citizens who are lawfully eligible to vote from casting their ballots," said DNC Chairman Howard Dean in a statement issued on Monday. "I applaud the Indiana Democratic Party's decision to appeal this ruling," Dean said. "As part of our Party's commitment to doing whatever we can to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to participate in our democracy, the DNC will assist the Indiana Democratic Party's legal challenge to this unfair law and continue our fight to make it easier for all Americans to exercise their right to vote."Technorati Tags: politics, Howard Dean, voter fraud
Only 37% of Americans gave Congress a high approval rating, down from 45% last month, the poll taken last week showed. A total of 53% disapproved, up from 48% in February.
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Meanwhile, President Bush's approval rating remained fairly steady at 52%.
So when did Generals cease to be responsible for outcomes in war?Technorati Tags: Rumsfeld, Rummy
AS the No. 2 general at United States Central Command from the Sept. 11 attacks through the Iraq war, I was the daily "answer man" to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. I briefed him twice a day; few people had as much interaction with him as I did during those two years. In light of the recent calls for his resignation by several retired generals, I would like to set the record straight on what he was really like to work with.Technorati Tags: Rumsfeld, Rummy
"From Day One, my decision was, 'I'm not getting out,'" Wilson said, adding that she still has things she wants to accomplish in the military. "My support channel has been there for me and I'd like to give that back to the soldiers of the future."Technorati Tags: Iraq, military, mediabias
Research presented at a major European science meeting adds to other evidence that cleaner air is letting more solar energy through to the Earth's surface.
One of the key organizers of the immigration protests and rallies nationwide, including yesterday's in Washington, is a group whose leaders are tied to the Workers World Party, a Marxist organization that has expressed support for dictators Kim Jong-il of North Korea and Saddam Hussein of Iraq.Technorati Tags: immigration
The Mexican flags and the strident assertions of a right to violate American laws are a danger signal to this society, as they would be to any society.Technorati Tags: immigration
The releasing of children from schools to take part in these marches and the support of the marchers' goals by some religious leaders demonstrate that this contempt for the laws of the land has spread well beyond immigrant communities.
“My son and a group of his friends were talking about this video they had seen in school,” Jackson said. “One of the other student’s mother saw the video and she forwarded it to me. I saw it and I became livid.”Technorati Tags: education
The video clip, which can be viewed at Filmstripinternational.com, shows a slideshow of images accompanied by a song called “A—hole.” The slides show President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and others in the administration. Words are typed on each image; a photo of bush in college bears the caption “A ‘bad apple’ in college.” A scene showing Rice said she was shopping for shoes after the “levee broke.”
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According to her son and his friends, she said, discussion in White’s science class often turns to politics.
“I know of one instance where my son was told he couldn’t leave the room without saying, ‘John Kerry rocks,’” she said. “I think my son is entitled to his opinion, just like (his teacher) is. I don’t think any issue should be forced on my son.”
April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Eight mass graves containing about 1,000 bodies were discovered in northern Iraq, President Jalal Talabani's political party said.Technorati Tags: Iraq, Saddam, Mass Graves
The graves were found yesterday in the villages of al-Asri and Tubazawa, west of Kirkuk, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said on its Arabic-language Web site today. Two of the sites contained at total of at least 800 bodies, the party said.
WASHINGTON — Employers boosted payrolls by a sizable 211,000 in March in a springtime hiring burst that pushed the unemployment rate down to 4.7 percent. The latest snapshot of the U.S. job market, released by the Labor Department Friday, suggested that an accelerating economic expansion is putting companies in the hiring mood, brightening prospects for those seeking work.Technorati Tags: Economy, Unemployment
April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Iraqi and U.S.-led forces captured an al-Qaeda-linked leader wanted for killings, kidnappings, and assassination attempts after a "determined manhunt,'' the U.S. military said today.Technorati Tags: Iraq, Insurgency
Students at Shaw Heights Middle School are no longer allowed to wear anything that is patriotic, including camouflage pants, because they have become a political symbol for a version of patriotism, CBS4 reports.Technorati Tags: immigration
"It upsets me that we cannot support our troops -- the military," said Kirsten Golgart, an eighth grader who was told she'd be suspended if she didn't change her clothes. "We can't support our country. If we're American, I think we should be proud to be an American."
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Gunmen shouting "God is Great!" dragged the burning body of what they said was a U.S. pilot in a video posted Wednesday on the Web by a new group affiliated with Al Qaeda. The group claimed it shot down an Apache helicopter last weekend.Technorati Tags: Iraq, Insurgency, Human rights
Senate Democrats refused to allow consideration of an amendment yesterday that would bar illegal aliens convicted of felonies from obtaining U.S. citizenship.Technorati Tags: immigration, Democratic plan, National Security
NASCAR said NBC confirmed it was sending Muslim-looking men to a race, along with a camera crew to film fans' reactions. The NBC crew was "apparently on site in Martinsville, Va., walked around and no one bothered them," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Wednesday.Technorati Tags: MSM, NASCAR
"It is outrageous that a news organization of NBC's stature would stoop to the level of going out to create news instead of reporting news," Poston said.
"Any legitimate journalist in America should be embarrassed by this stunt. The obvious intent by NBC was to evoke reaction, and we are confident our fans won't take the bait," he said.
You can look at the Democrats' national security plan, released last week, as simply a political shield, akin to the upgraded body armor they promise for U.S. troops.Technorati Tags: National Security, Democratic plan
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Throughout the plan, in fact, there is no discussion of values, of liberty or generosity, of free markets or foreign aid -- of any purpose for American leadership larger than self-protection. The pollsters may be satisfied, but John F. Kennedy would not recognize his party.
More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today
ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI, the most feared commander in the Iraqi insurgency, may have been forced to surrender his leadership by rival groups, angered by his bloody tactics and the interference of foreign fighters in the Iraqi conflict.Zarqawi - Google News
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. military deaths declined in the Iraq war for a fifth straight month in March even as insurgent attacks continue unabated with Iraqis increasingly the targets.Technorati Tags: Iraq, Military, media bias
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But the monthly U.S. military death toll has steadily dropped...
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That would represent the smallest monthly death toll since 20 in February 2004, the lowest of the three-year war.
Reading the two pieces together, one gets the unmistakable impression that the Times doesn't want to know more about the documents, their contents and what they tell us about prewar Iraq. The Times, it seems, has chosen ignorance.Technorati Tags: Iraq, WMD(s)
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Lost on Shane, it seems, is that these documents were released in large part so that we would no longer have to rely on the opinions of anonymous intelligence officials who, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee's bipartisan report, knew very little about Iraq before the war. It should hardly be surprising that the U.S. intelligence community would seek to downplay the significance of these documents after paying them little attention for three years. In any case, the release of the documents allows the debate to move from speculation to fact. It is a development one would expect the Times to welcome.